Life as We Knew It

Product Description In this New York Times best-seller, when a meteor knocks the moon closer to earth, Miranda, a high school sophomore, takes shelter with her family in this heart-stopping post-apocalyptic thriller that's "absorbing from first to last page."* ( Publishers Weekly, starred review) I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s still would be open. Like one marble hitting another, when the moon slams closer to earth, the result is catastrophic. Worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun. As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, Life as We Knew It chronicles the human struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world. Review An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A 2011 ALA Popular Paperbacks Title A CCBC Choice A Junior Library Guild Premier Selection A Listening Library Selection An Amazon.com Best Book of the Year * "Absorbing from first page to last."— Publishers Weekly, starred review "Riveting and deeply frightening."— The Bulletin"You will read it in one sitting, fighting back tears as you bite your nails."— Teenreads.com About the Author Susan Beth Pfeffer is the author of many books for teens, including the New York Times best-selling novel Life As We Knew It, which was nominated for several state awards, and its companion books, The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In, and The Shade of the Moon. She lives in Middletown, New York. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. one May 7  Lisa is pregnant.  Dad called around 11 o’clock to let us know. Only Mom had already taken Jonny to his baseball practice and of course Matt isn’t home from college yet, so I was alone to get the big news.  “The baby is due in December,” Dad crowed, like he was the first guy in the history of the world with a younger second wife about to have a baby. “Isn’t that great! You’re going to have a little brother or sister. Of course it’s too soon to tell what it’s going to be, but as soon as we know, we’ll tell you. I wouldn’t mind another daughter myself. The first one I had turned out so wonderfully. How’d you like a baby sister?”  I had no idea. “When did you find out?” I asked.  “Yesterday afternoon,” Dad said. “I would have called you right away but, well, we celebrated. You can understand that, can’t you, honey? A little private time for Lisa and me before letting the world know.”  “Of course, Daddy,” I said. “Has Lisa told her family?”  “First thing this morning,” he replied. “Her parents are thrilled. Their first grandchild. They’re coming for a couple of weeks in July, before you and Jonny visit.”  “Are you going to call Matt and tell him?” I asked. “Or do you want me to?”  “Oh no, I’ll call,” Dad said. “He’s busy studying for his finals. He’ll be glad for the interruption.”  “It’s great news, Dad,” I said, because I knew I was supposed to. “Be sure to tell Lisa how happy I am for her. And you, too. For both of you.”  “You tell her yourself,” Dad said. “Here she is.”  Dad muffled the phone for a second so he could whisper something to Lisa and then she took the phone. “Miranda,” she said. “Isn’t it exciting!”  “Very,” I said. “It’s wonderful news. I’m really happy for you and Dad.”  “I was thinking,” she said. “Well, I know it’s way too soon and I haven’t even discussed this with your father yet, but would you like to be the baby’s godmother? You don’t have to answer right away, but do think about it, all right?”  That’s the problem I have with Lisa. Whenever I want to get mad at her, or just irritated because she really can be immensely irrit